Here To Stay
by Crossing Dreamer Silverdramon
Summary: Yugi disappeared. Not long afterwards something started haunting the same abandoned house Yugi had gone missing in, and its killing people who dare enter. Who’s behind it and why? It’s up to Yami to find out and only clues to the past can help him solve t
1. Yami Remembers it All

**Summary:** Five years ago, Yugi disappeared during an incident that happened on Halloween. Not long afterwards someone or something started haunting the same house that Yugi had gone missing in, and it's been killing people who dare enter ever since. Who's behind it all and why? It's up to Yami to find out and only clues to the past and those left behind by the killer's victims can help him solve this mystery.

**A/N:** I've edited this fic and made it a bit longer and detailed. Considering that I wrote this about 2 years ago, it definitely needs revising. This was supposed to be a sort of Halloween story but meh whatever. Anyway Yamis have their own bodies. Don't ask me how, they just do okay?

**To avoid some confusion  
**Yugi, Ryou, Malik -Hikaris  
Yami, Bakura, Marik -Yamis

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, so please you no sue but do leave a **review**.

**Code Thingy**  
"Talking"  
'_'Thinking'_  
_--Flashback--_

**Chapter 1 Yami Remembers it All  
**Yami could only stare at the scenery in front of him with horror and fear. Then again he always felt uneasy about actually returning here. He stared at the abandoned house and shuddered slightly, it was the same place that he, Yugi, and Yugi's grandfather had once lived in.

Nowadays now no one lived there, but that didn't stop anyone from sneaking in; considering that someone had gone missing in there five years beforehand during a Halloween party that had gone terribly wrong. People, namely teenagers who heard the rumors always entered the premises and always someone would end up mysteriously dying in the process. This time was not different from the others, another death was reported.

It had been the third time this year. The victim, a young man around the age of 18 who was found dead inside one of the rooms during the weekend. It was rather gruesome according to police officials, but that was all that Yami could obtain from them.

Yami decided to investigate even further and tracked down one of the victim's friends who had survived. He came across a young girl named Jenna who was only 16; Yami offered to take her to a Cafe for some coffee so that he may ask her a few questions. From what Jenna had told Yami, he learned that the victim's name was Tyler and that he was her boyfriend. She was however, reluctant to tell Yami what she and her friends saw, it was bad enough that the police were questioning her just the other day. After some convicing though, Jenna said that Tyler was slashed all over especially his face when she and her friends discovered his body.

Jenna told the former pharoah how they found him and noticed that his eyeballs and a few fingers were missing. She sobbed and Yami tried to comfort her, reassuring her that he would get to the bottom of this and find the person who killed her boyfriend.

But how, when this had been occuring for the past five years? There had been a total of 17 deaths, strangely enough they all occurred in the same house, but no one was ever apprehended for the deaths. It just remained a mystery to who did it; investigators were just as puzzled as Yami was.

This house unlike others homes in Domino, had a western look to it. Two stories tall and very spacious, Yami and Yugi had at one point called it home five years ago. They had only moved in a few months prior when the first accident occured.

Kaiba had for some reason, insisted on helping pay for the place. They didn't mind much after all; the entire house was beautiful and very roomy. Most of all it was almost Halloween and with all the excitement, Yugi decided to invite some friends over for some fun.

That day turned out to be the worst thing to happen to Yami since well, maybe back in Egypt, but he tried not to think about it, they all had.

_-- Halloween 7:40 p.m._

_Everyone was happy, Yami, Yugi, and his grandfather had already moved into their new home. It was a bit creepy at first, especially with Joey always going on about rumors about how the place being haunted and all. _

_It was nothing to worry about as Yami always tried to reassure his friend. It was just some silly story Joey had made up to try to scare the pants out of him._

_In the meantime, they were all having the time of their lives. Malik had challenged Joey to a contest to see who could eat the most amount of hot sauce, nonstop. Tristan cheered for Joey from the sides, but had bet on Malik instead. Odeon did the same for Malik, Téa on the other hand was still deciding whether to be grossed out by this or cheer. _

_Mai was currently in America making it impossible for her to attend, and Duke had other plans in mind, something having to do with his game. _

_Ryou was glad to come but had troubles getting there though. He knew where Yugi lived, the problem was having to drag his reluctant Yami over seeing as Bakura didn't want to come and would rather have fun staying home and scaring little children who knocked on the door for candy._

_Even Seto Kaiba and Mokuba decided to join, well actually Seto didn't want to go, saying he had more important things to do than to be hanging around with a bunch of geeks as he constantly referred Yugi's friends as. Yet Mokuba always had a way of getting what he wanted. _

_Right now the CEO of Kaiba Corp was too busy running away from Malik's sugar crazed Yami who thought it was funny to annoy Seto by chasing him around with a rubber chicken. It was nothing but the fact that Marik would not stop was starting to get on his nerves. _

_And as for Yami and Yugi, they were out trick or treating. Yugi had encouraged Yami to go with him seeing as it was Yami's first time. Yugi was dressed as a pirate with a long leather coat, a striped shirt, and a red bandana over his tri-colored hair. He was also wearing an eye patch (he couldn't get the eyepatch over his head at first but after pressing his hair down with his bandana it became easier to put the eyepatch on). The only thing that seemed out of place when it came to his costume, was the Millennium Puzzle that hung around his neck. _

_Yami on the other hand was dressed as a handsome vampire, he was pale and dressed in an elegant black suit with a velvet cape, the former pharaoh was even sporting those fake plastic fangs, and sounded funny when he talked. Yami would have looked more convincing if his hair was slicked back, but no amount of hairgel, hairspray (or even glue) could tame his locks. _

_Unfortunately for Yugi, Yami had eaten too much candy along the way, causing him to go running around the streets like a sugar crazed maniac that would have made Marik proud. Yugi eventually got his darker half to calm down, and made a mental note to keep Yami away from any other sugary treats in the near future._

_Yugi had gotten more than enough tasty treats to share with the others; he decided to head for his house before their friends left, or before Bakura trashed the place. As they did, a squad of police cars had passed their way. Yami who was looking around wondered what it could have been._

_He didn't realize, nor did Yugi that their day was about to turn into a nightmare. --_

The yellow caution tape left by the police was still surrounding the place, Yami yanked it away not caring if he was going to get caught, and kept walking towards the entrance; in his left hand he was holding on to a rolled up newspaper.

Yami had had enough of it and didn't want to hear about anyone else dying because of whoever or whatever was within those walls. He knew that there was something in that house that not even the police could face, and that only he could do something about it.

Yami only made his way into the yard, and past the few steps; he was about to reach for and grab the doorknob when...

"Yami," a familiar voice called out to him.

The former pharoah immediately turned around and found none other than Seto Kaiba and Téa Gardner standing not far from him. Yami stepped away from the steps and began to walk back to them.

"Figures you'd be here. So you heard?" Kaiba said as he stopped in his tracks. Yami handed them the newspaper for them to see and nodded.

"Yeah, they only mentioned in the papers that a body was found," Yami said as Kaiba skimmed through the articles. Yami told them what he had found out after his encounter with the victim's girlfriend. Téa shuddered when she heard about what happened to the boy.

"Who could have done this?" Téa asked as she looked over to the door.

Yami looked at her, "I'm still not sure, but I'm beginning to think that whatever keeps doing this is not human. Lately I've been sensing some sort of shadow magic lingering around the house, but it only happens after someone has died."

"I talked to Ryou just last week and he mentioned that Bakura had entered not long ago," Téa said.

"And?" Kaiba asked.

"Well I don't know, Ryou said that he won't talk about it, but he thinks that Bakura must have found something that might have scared him," Téa replied.

"Tomb Robber afraid? Now that's a first," Kaiba said smugly.

Yami looked up the the house, "I've been thinking of going in there and seeing for myself. I need to know what is in there and why it's doing this."

"But it's dangerous, what if whatever is in there gets you too?" Téa said concern for her friend.

"That's why I'm going too," said Kaiba as he stepped in.

"What?" Both Yami and Téa said in unison. "No like Téa said it's too dangerous if you enter, I should be alright as long as I have the Millennium Puzzle with me." Yami said. He wondered why his rival wanted to come along with him, but placed the thought aside and stared at the CEO.

"I know what risks I'm taking," he replied, "and I don't care what you have to say, I'm going in with or without you, so make up your mind."

Yami looked at him for a second, sighed knowing that Kaiba wouldn't take no for an answer and nodded, "Okay, but I'm calling the shots understand?"

Kaiba didn't like the thought of having to follow Yami's orders while they were in there, but nodded in agreement

"Téa you wait here just in case, I can't risk your safety," Yami said to the brunnete before he looked back to Kaiba.

"Shall we?"

"Hold on," Kaiba said as he walked back to his car and came up with a silver briefcase.

"What now? What's that?"

Kaiba opened the case and took out something out from it. It was a pair of walkie-talkies, he tossed one to Yami who caught it with ease, and handed the other to Téa before taking out a third.

"Just in case there's trouble on the outside or while inside," he said with a smirk. Téa nodded and said that she would keep watch in case anything happened while she waited outside.

Yami was caught off guard as Téa gave him a hug, "Good luck and be careful the two of you," she said finally as she let go. Kaiba spoke to the brunnete and told her to at least stay inside his car in case anyone saw her.

Téa nodded and did what Kaiba had told her, Yami who was watching her turned his attention to the CEO but noticed that Kaiba had not even bother to wait for him and was already waiting at the door. Yami headed for the front door and waited as Kaiba picked the lock and opened the door.

It was quite dark as Yami and Kaiba walked in. Yami couldn't see what was ahead of him as he bumped right into Kaiba.

"Watch where you're going," Kaiba growled.

"Well I would if there was actually some light in here. Did you bring a flashlight?" Said Yami.

"No," the CEO replied.

"Great," an exasperated Yami said before an idea hit him. He grabbed the puzzle in his hands and waited as it started to glow.

"Better. Now follow me," he said as he took the lead. They looked around and noticed that the place was a mess. Soda cans, pizza boxes, plastic bags, beer bottles, all trash. No one even lived in there anymore, the place was usually locked, but somehow someone always managed to force the lock, but that would always turn out to be their doom.

_-- The policemen passed by. Yami took a few seconds to calm down, as Yugi continued to pull him home. The two of them suddenly heard gunshots, but they were loud meaning that whatever was happening was nearby to where they were going. Right around the corner they noticed two, no wait three police cruisers parked near their house. Lights flashing, and a large crowd of people was outside, some of them were still wearing their halloween costumes. _

_Yami immediately recognized one of them as Ryou who was holding Téa in his arms. Téa was crying in shock as Ryou tried to comfort her, to his left was Bakura leaning against a tree. Kaiba was yelling at the policemen demanding they do something. Panic struck Yami hard in the face snapping him back to reality just in time to see Yugi run to his friends. Yami called out to his Hikari then ran after him._

_Téa wouldn't react to Yugi's pleas when he asked that was going on. Bakura decided to tell him the news just for the fun of it. He had a look of complete amusement when Yugi took in this bit of information. In an instant he took of running into his home, calling out to his grandfather hopping he was okay. _

_It surprised Yami just how easily the Hikari managed to escape from the policeman's clutches as he ran into the house. Yami didn't think twice and chased after him, the police tried to restrain him as well, but Yami knew that no cop was going to stop him from going after Yugi. The former pharaoh shoved the other men away and ran in as well._

_Kaiba continued to argue with the chief policeman as the others waited, there was nothing they could do about it anyway, and it's not like Bakura even wanted to help. All the Tomb Robber wanted to do was make sure the no one hurt his Hikari, that was already done, so he did the next best thing. Bakura looked down and found Yugi's bag of sugary treats and decided to help himself to the surplus supply of sugar. _

_Ryou looked at him with a look of surprise and shook his head in dissapointment._

_"What?"_

_Next thing they knew, more gunshots rang, and Yami was heard yelling continuously. --_

Two days after the accident Yami had left the hospital and returned back to his house. Yami had to sneak into his home; he looked around the place searching room after room only to find Yugi's Millennium Puzzle, and traces of blood. Yami remembered that Yugi had been shot the day that the incident occured. He wasn't even sure if the Hikari was alive, he called out to the Hikari, but recieved no answer, as if he had just vanished or something had suddenly took him away.

Yami had used the Millennium Item, they were both bonded to it, but there was no sign of Yugi's location. It's as if the puzzle could not pinpoint the hikari's presence in his home or anywhere else. As if something didn't want Yami to know where Yugi was.

But what?

Téa in the meantime waited inside Kaiba's expensive car just as she had been told. She waited for Yami and Kaiba to return. The brunnete looked out the window watching the leaves fall in their various colors. Things had changed alot since what happened that day five years ago. Yugi had dissappeared, Joey and Odeon had almost died; things seemed to spiral out of control. The gang seemed to just fall appart afterwards; the rarely talked to each other. No one wanted to be reminded about what happened to Yugi and Yami. Tristan moved away out of the city, Joey as well moved back with his mother and Serenity.

Yami seemed depressed every once and a while. Both he and Yugi's grandfather had found a new place to live in, but things were still amiss.

Something had suddenly caught her attention; She saw something move from up in the attic window. Téa rolled down the car's black tinted window and saw the window curtain move. Somebody was starring down at her, but from the distance she couldn't tell who it was.

_'Maybe it's Kaiba? No...'_ she thought as she tried to get a better look, but all she could see was a fringe of what looked like tri-colored hair. It must have been Yami.

"Yami?" she called with her walkie-talkie, but recieved no response. "Kaiba?" she called out again and just like before received no answer.

She looked back to the window, and saw that this time the window was open, what she saw surprised her the most. There was someone trying to peak his head out the window. Téa saw his red/black/gold colored hair first followed by his violet colored eyes. She wondered why Yami was looking out the window, but was startled to see that he was suddenly pulled back inside.

Deep down inside something was telling her that something was not right with what just happened. Téa didn't know what to do, she tried calling them with her walkie-talkie but didn't get a response from the other end. Without further thought she got out of the car and walked over to the house unaware of a pair of red eyes that were watching her every move as she entered the building.

Yami and Kaiba had been walking around for a while when Kaiba suddenly grabbed Yami's arm. "What's wrong?" Yami asked as he and Kaiba came to a stop.

"Did you hear that?" Kaiba asked gesturing for Yami to raise his puzzle up to get a better view.

"Hear what? I didn't hear anything," replied Yami as he looked upward towards the ceiling, but found nothing out of the ordinary.

"It's coming from over there!" Kaiba said as he took off running to the left. "Hurry up!" he hissed, the light was dimmer in his direction and needed Yami to get closer.

"Kaiba wait," Yami growled. He tried to catch up but his Millennium Puzzle suddenly stopped glowing. Yami stopped running and stared at his puzzle wondering what was going on.

"Where'd you go?"

Yami couldn't see what was around, the windows were boarded shut and his only source of light was acting strangely. Then he heard something, a sort of creaking sound, that seemed like someone was walking up or down some stairs.

It was dark and it was hard to see as he made his way down the stairs, he had sensed something coming from down below. He only took a few steps downstairs before he stopped and stood there looking back at a young man with tri-colored hair who was looking bewildered to what was going on. He looked as the man walked around confused. could it really be him that he was seeing?

Or just another one of **_his_** tricks?

Yami made his way towards where he assumed the stairs were, he wondered where Kaiba had gone. Yami grabbed the walkie-talkie from his jacket and called out to Kaiba, but all that he was getting in return was static.

"Yami?" someone called out to him; a voice all too familiar to him, but it wasn't Kaiba. No it was someone else; the Millennium Puzzle began to glow once again revealing the other's physical features. He was short that was certain, he had tri-colored hair, and violet eyes.

_'It can't be,'_ Yami stared in disbelief. His clothes were different than he last remembered; he wasn't wearing his pirate costume anymore but a pair of worn out jeans that were ripped at the knees, a black shirt and dark blue jacket. Yami noticed the few bumps, scratches, and bruises, that appeared on his face and hands, but other than that Yugi looked the exactly the same as he did five years ago.

Yami took a step closer, keeping a close eye on Yugi who just stood there. "Yugi? Is that you?" Yami asked as he walked up the stairs; to his surprise Yugi only took a few steps back up; cautiously he reached the top and stepped back behind the rail as he stared at the pharaoh.

"Don't you remember me? It's me, Yami," he said as he kept walking up, maybe something was wrong with him. Could it be that Yugi had amnesia?

Yugi looked at the Millennium Puzzle around Yami's neck; He concluded that this was the real thing, that this wasn't one of **_his_** tricks.

"Yugi?" Yami asked once more.

"Yes?" Yugi replied in return, as he let his defenses crumble before the former pharaoh, and took a step away from the rail. Yami couldn't help but smile. He was back, after all those years he was back, though he was still confused on the boy's appearance.

He hadn't aged.

Yet it had to be him couldn't it? Yugi answered, and he seemed injured as if something had hust him; there was no way this could have been some sort of illusion. Then out of nowhere someone let out scream, it was loud as ever. Yami felt the strange dark force that he had sensed everytime someone died here, there was danger nearby.

But who was in danger? Yami tried to call Kaiba again with his walkie-talkie, but the static interference that he was recieving made it impossible for him to get the message across. "Yugi, did you...hear that?" he asked Yugi if he heard someone scream as well, only to turn around and find Yugi missing.

_'Yugi?'_

This certainly was not good. Someone was in danger, and if he didn't do something soon, they wouldn't be around much longer. Whatever he saw, real or not, it would have to had to wait for now.

**To Be Continued**


	2. Reinforcements

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh leave a **review.**

**Code Thing  
**"Talking"  
_'Thinking'  
__--Flashback--_

**To avoid some confusion  
**Yugi, Ryou, Malik -Hikari  
Yami, Bakura, Marik -Yami

**Chapter 2 Reinforcements  
**Yami ran downstairs hoping to find the person who had screamed. It didn't sound nothing like Kaiba; could it be that Téa had entered the house after they did? He was still holding his walkie-talkie.

"Téa?" Yami tried to call out, but continued to receive static on the other end.

He didn't hope on hearing the scream, but it would have been helpful to know where it had come from. He came back to where he last saw the Hikari, "Yugi?" he said in an attempt to get him to show up but to no avail; there was no sign of him whatsoever.

Could it be that what he saw was really nothing more than a figment of his own imagination? No it couldn't be, he was sure that it was Yugi he saw; he had spoken to him and Yugi had answered back.

Yami returned to his search for the other individual by running back up the stairs. He turned left and continued to run through the narrow hall, his Millennium Puzzle provided enough light to guide him in the direction he was going. There was a room to the left and the right, and from the looks of it both doors were opened but there was no one inside either one of them.

Yami continued down the hall only to be lead into a dead end where a window was located. It was one of the few places that was not boarded up compared to other windows located on the first floor. However, as Yami approached it, he noticed that there was no light shining through at all.

He was puzzled because he couldn't even see Kaiba's car, Téa, or anything else for the matter. Instead Yami found himself staring into something that resembled the Shadow Realm on the other side. But what surprised him the most was finding these strange shadow-like wisps weaving in and out of the window.

As Yami inched closer, the shadows caught notice of the former pharaoh as they came to a stop only a few inches away from his face. He kept a straight face as the shadows "studied" him; the wisps then quivered and seemed to return back into the window for a moment, it looked as if Yami had nothing to worry about.

But not even a second later did these strange shadows return. Yami heard strange hissing noises coming from some unknown direction before something shot out from the window in an attempt to grab him. He suddenly felt something cold wrap itself around his neck, it was the shadows that were now trying to pull him into the window.

Yami gasped because he couldn't get himself free from the shadows clutches as he got pulled in closer. The Millennium Puzzle seemed to respond to the danger and began to glow even brighter. He noticed the smoke that was forming around him and the hissing noises he heard moments ago grow faint as the shadows' hold on the former pharaoh began to slip and loosen.

Finally after a short struggle, the shadows pulled back before resuming to waver rapidly in and out of the window no longer coming any closer to the former pharaoh. Yami was confused why the shadows were not coming at him anymore, as he rubbed his throat which was a bit sore from his ordeal.

Yami edged away and retraced his steps returning back to the stairs, this time he went straight to the other corridor running past a room that was once his own. Across from that, was Yugi's room. He came to a pause and retraced his steps back towards both doors.

_'Maybe there's someone in there,'_ he thought as he grabbed the doorknob and turned it but it appeared to be locked. He went to his own room and got the same results. Yami couldn't help but pound his fists on the wooden door in frustration.

"Damn!" Yami said to no one in particular.

He suddenly felt something touch his shoulder; instinctively he turned around and saw that it was Kaiba who had caught up with him. The CEO was breathing a bit unevenly and didn't seem to be in a good mood considering that he was on his own for a while without any sense of direction or light.

"Where the hell you been?!" Kaiba yelled, Yami was about to open his mouth and reply when they heard the scream again.

"These doors are locked and I've already checked the other side. It must be coming from somewhere else," said Yami as Kaiba approached the door. "It could be coming from the attic," he said as an afterthought.

"Then what are we waiting for?" said Kaiba as he shoved the former pharaoh ahead, "lead the way!"

Yami growled at the way Kaiba had acted but shook it off before he took the lead towards the opposite direction. "This way," Yami said recalling where the attic was located it was back where he encountered the shadows. Yami warned Kaiba not to get close to the window, and resumed their search.

Yami wasn't tall enough to reach the latch and pointed above them instead, the millennium Puzzle continuing to illuminate their surroundings. Kaiba proceeded to pull the latch down as Yami kept watch in case the shadows decided to strike again.

Finally they made they made their way up the plight of stairs, Yami was the first to reach the top and immediately froze causing Kaiba to bump into him. Kaiba was about to ask what was going on, but saw for himself as he stared at the young brunette that was in the room.

She wasn't alone.

There was something else with her.

Slightly taller than Téa, this creature seemed made of some sort of substance much like the shadows that tried to grab hold of him. Black tendrils weaved around its form yet at the same time they were snaking out intermittently all over the attic, causing the whole room to darken, there was a larger window nearby but it too was not allowing any light to pass through.

The "human" shaped creature stood its ground not noticing the new intruders. Yami could sensed the dark energy emanating from the creature as it held Téa closely.

The creature had one "hand" over Téa's mouth preventing her from calling out to them, the other around her waist to keep her from escaping. The creature seemed to have its eyes closed, its face pressing against her ear as if whispering something to Téa.

"Téa!" Yami cried out to her, and stared at the being in front of him.

The creature's eyes snapped open in response to hearing Yami's voice calling out to his friend. The shadows' blood red eyes appeared mismatched and began to look around catching a glimpse of both Yami and Kaiba. The creature stared blankly at the two as its red eyes slowly trailed away from Kaiba and then Yami.

Eventually the creature focused its gaze on the Millennium Puzzle that was around Yami's neck. Red orbs grew wide in surprise, before it took a few steps back. Despite the shadow's reaction to Yami it made sure that it didn't let go of the brunette.

"Let her go Fiend!" Yami commanded as he took a step forward. The creature didn't respond and continued to whisper to Téa.

The former pharaoh charged forward ignoring the possible danger he could be putting himself in and got close enough to throw a punch right in the creature's face, narrowly missing Téa in the process. The shadow reacted instantly and staggered back, hissing in response to the pain it was dealt with.

Yet in continued to tightened its hold on Téa not wanting to let go, as it returned only to shove Yami back with great force. Yami growled as the Millennium Symbol appeared on his forehead, his puzzle glowed immensely just as it did before. The whole room became illuminated but more than it did when he was attacked earlier.

The creature tried to shield its eyes letting go of Téa in the process. Kaiba immediately pulled her away from the creature's grasp. The creature noticed this but was too distracted as it cried out in pain and agony; its voice sounded like a mixture of echoes coming from all directions that seemed so close yet at the same time so far away.

Suddenly the Millennium Puzzle's bright light receded to a dull glow.

"What's going on?" Kaiba yelled.

"I don't understand..." said Yami as he tapped the puzzle in confusion, wondering why it did that. The creature regained composure, shook its head and began to advance on them; its red eyes glowing brightly throughout the darkness.

It was coming towards Yami.

Yami braced himself for the upcoming attack, but was surprised when the creature sidestepped and avoided the pharaoh at the last minute. It came to a stop by the entrance stared at the pharaoh with a piercing look on its face before it jumped down the attic and vanished.

"What the... It's gone," said Yami.

Kaiba looked down to Téa who was currently trembling in his arms as she muttered incomprehensibly to herself. "What were you doing in here?" The CEO said as he shook her slightly trying to get her to snap out of it.

"That's enough Kaiba," Yami said as he grabbed Kaiba's arm, "we need to get out of here now." Yami came back to them and tried to help Téa out.

"No!" The brunette began to cry out hysterically when she saw Yami. Yami stepped back at first unsure of what was going on.

"Téa it's me," he said.

"No-no-no Yugi don't go...please...don't let them hurt me...please..." she said between sobs, Kaiba couldn't help but let go of her as she slumped to her knees. Yami looked at him displease, Kaiba merely shrugged.

"Téa calm down, no one is going to hurt you. I'm here for you, see? Everything is going to be okay now." He got on his knees and tried to comfort her as best as he could until Téa began to calm down.

She blinked a few times, "Yami?" She said softly as she looked at him, tears still streaming down her cheeks. Yami looked to Kaiba then back to Téa and gave a slight nod of reassurance; Téa cried in relief and wrapped her arms around the former pharaoh.

"Lets go home," he said as he helped her get up. He looked around and realized that the room seemed less dark than it was before the window was now clear providing a view of the outside. There was no eerie feeling of dread that hung over that area as if whatever plagued this place had left.

They reached the stairs once more and Yami couldn't help but think of Yugi. Could he have really been there, or was it possible that the shadow creature he had just encountered was responsible and had created an illusion of the Hikari just to trick him?

Finally they reached the front door, Téa was the first to go out then Kaiba. Yami took one last glance at his former home before he too left and closed the door.

* * *

Yugi slowly opened the door to what used to be his room and peaked through enough to see him standing by the window as if looking out for something.

"I almost had her," the figure said as he turned around knowing that he was being watched. His red eyes stared into Yugi's violet ones, the boy gulped and quickly looked down to avoid eye contact with the other man as he entered.

"I never thought that he would show up after so long and...and..." He said to himself before he growled and in a fit of rage threw the nearest object he could get his hands on at Yugi but missed as it hit the door instead.

"Good thing he did," said Yugi as he entered and left the door open in case something happened and he needed to make a quick getaway, "If it wasn't for Yami, Téa would have been a goner because of you."

The man laughed, "Oh right, the all-mighty pharaoh comes to the rescue," he said sarcastically. "Bastard."

"I won't have you talking about Yami like that!" Said Yugi suddenly, his fists clenched in anger after having heard the other man speak that way towards Yami.

"Oh what are you going to do about it?"

"I'll..."

"Kill me?" the man said with a hint of amusement, "stop wasting your breath Yugi, you know better that you can't get rid of me; you and I are the same. What we need to do is stop fighting each other and start working together, maybe then we can stop them from meddling in our business, especially that idiot Yami."

"But Shadow...I told you that Yami can hel-"

"Fuck Yami!!!" The man named Shadow hissed, "have you forgotten that he was the one who left you here in the first place? He did this to you remember?" He said as he pointed to Yugi's left leg.

"It was an accident," Yugi responded firmly.

"Sure it was Yugi, sure it was. I remember it clearly as if it were yesterday and I know well enough to say otherwise," he said as he approached Yugi. "Yami abandoned you when you needed him the most, when you were hurting, suffering all alone. I'm the only one who's been there for you. I've always been."

"But he came, that has to mean something," said Yugi.

"The only thing that brought Yami here was Death. Their deaths," Shadow said as he winced for no apparent reason before he rubbed his temples in frustration; Shadow muttered to himself something that Yugi couldn't hear before he resumed speaking.

"He didn't come looking for you... and he never will, but if he does one thing is for sure that he will hurt you."

_'Just as he hurt me.'_

"What?! Yami would never do that!"

Shadow suddenly howled with laughter as he watched Yugi shake his head vigorously in response. "Look at the facts: Yami took your Millennium Puzzle, stole your friends, your family, your very life. Face it Yugi, you're nothing more than an unwanted piece to a puzzle."

"Stop!"

Shadow smiled, "but it's true isn't it? Though then again if you want to see him so badly then maybe another death should do the trick eh?" he said as he suddenly grabbed Yugi by the neck.

"Yours..."

"No... Stop!... Shadow... you need me," Yugi chocked and gasped for air.

Shadow realizing that what Yugi said was true, stopped and threw the boy against the wall. Yugi grimaced slightly at the pain.

"Yeah I guess I do, but soon our bond will be broken and I will be free."

"We'll see about that," Yugi responded. Shadow ready to strike again froze at the sound of Yugi's words and shook his head as he took a few steps back; it would be a waste of time to take his anger out on Yugi when it would do no good for him. He turned his attention away from the boy and back to the window where he continued to watch.

"You may think that I know nothing, but you're wrong. I'm not stupid and I do know everything there is to know about you Shadow. About what you are and your little Mind Games, I know what you did to Téa."

"Mind Games?" said Shadow with an accusing stare.

"You enjoy it don't you? Them suffering just a you did so long ago, do they see the same things you make me see?" Yugi said as he shuddered momentarily, Shadow remained silent and simply closed the curtain.

"..." Yugi stood there and watched as Shadow walked past him towards the door.

"You're the one who's supposed to be the Hikari, the good one; yet you do nothing to help them. You just stand by and let me deal with them." He said finally with a smile on his face as he walked out before Yugi could say anything else.

* * *

"What's wrong?" said Kaiba as he looked to Yami who was about to enter the vehicle. Yami was still looking at one of the windows; the curtain had suddenly been drawn back.

He looked to Kaiba, "We'll need to come back soon."

"What? Why?" he said with uncertainty.

"There's something in there. I just know it," he looked to Téa who still trembled with fear slightly. "We must put an end to all those killings. There must be a way to stop it before..."

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "Let me guess, the fate of the world depends on it?" he said sarcastically.

"This is no time to joke Kaiba... Matter of fact, do you think you can arrange a meeting with Ryou or Malik anytime soon?" Yami asked as he got into the car after Téa did.

"Huh? Oh sure whatever," said Kaiba not really sure what Yami was thinking while he sat down on the passenger seat.

"Good because I'm going to need help," said Yami as he got in and closed the door. After that the car started and drove away.

**To Be Continued**


End file.
